1. Looking good! Slicing and dicing to visualize data in Excel Dashboards
Michael Winecoff
UNC Charlotte
J. Murrey Atkins Library

2. Objective
To take spreadsheet data and present it visually on an interactive dashboard
Excel dashboards allow you to use tables, charts and other data visualizations to tell a story about your data. After you have set up the initial pivot tables, you create slicers to connect them. This allows the various pivot tables to dynamically sync. You can then drill down and visually show your dean and/or liaisons the fund balances, titles, checkout statistics or other information you would like displayed. 

3. Steps Create the table Cleanup the table data Create the PivotTable1
Create the table 2
Cleanup the table data 3
Create the PivotTable 4
Create the PivotCharts, slicers and connect them
Customize your slicers and dashboard 5

4. Dashboards
Allow you to use tables and charts to visualize and present useful information – to tell a story about your data
Dynamically change as you update for tables. The dashboard also changes as you select various criteria from the slicers

5. What’s a PivotTable, Pivot Chart, Slicer and Dashboard?
PivotTable – Excel tool that reorganizes and summarizes selected columns and rows of data in a spreadsheet to obtain a desired report. User must refresh the PivotTable to see changes in the table.
PivotChart and PivotGraph – Visual representation of a PivotTable. PivotCharts and PivotGraphs update when the PivotTables change.
Slicers - Buttons on the Dashboard that enable you to quickly filter PivotTable data. An advantage of slicers is filtering on multiple PivotTables simultaneously. Users can click on the choices rather than use dropdown menus. Slicers only work with PivotTables in Excel 2010 or higher.
A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives; consolidated and arranged on a single screen so the information can be monitored at a glance.

6. Create the Table Step 1

7. Click here to Filter Data
Cleanup the Table Data Step 2 1
Normalize the Data – Check for inconsistencies. Have unique values where possible (dates, names, departments, etc.) 2
Eliminate blanks
Find and Select > Go To Special > Blanks
Click on the Fill Color to highlight the blank cells for easier discovery.
Sort the column by color – Custom Sort > Sort by (column) > Sort On > Cell Color
Sort
Find and Replace
Spell check
Correct improper cases
Fix dates and times to be uniform
Remove spaces and nonprinting characters using TRIM and/or CLEAN functions
Filter your data – Sort & Filter > Filter Click on the down arrow in each column. Look for data inconsistencies. This is helpful in cleaning up dates, categories and other controlled vocabularies 3
Remove duplicates
Data > Remove Duplicates on the Data Tools tab > Unselect All
Select a column with desired unique values like barcodes and OCLC numbers
Click here to Filter Data

8. Create the PivotTable Step 31
Click the Insert tab > PivotTable on the Tables tab 4
Drag the fields from the top to the lower half of the PivotTable Fields box
Drag 2
Assure that the range selected is the entire table. The moving dashes around the table signifies the selection 3
Place each PivotTable on a New Worksheet to aid in location. Rename the tab appropriately for future reference. This is be helpful if you need to edit the PivotTable.
Note: Should your PivotTable Fields disappear from the right side of the screen simply click inside of the PivotTable
Note: Reorder the PivotTable fields within the ROWS box up or down to manipulate your data results. Experiment!

9. Create PivotCharts, Slicers and Connect Them Step 41
Create the PivotCharts 2
Create the slicer
Click on the pivot table. Click on the Analyze tab -- Insert Slicer.
Check the data you want to filter
Copy the slicers to your Dashboard
Perform the above for each PivotTable
Click anywhere in the PivotTable to show the PivotTable Tools on the ribbon
Click Analyze > PivotChart
Click the chart type and chart subtype
Copy the PivotTable and PivotChart to the Dashboard tab 3
Connect the slicers if you have multiple PivotTables
Right click on a slicer -- Report Connections
Check each PivotTable listed. This connects them
Do this for each slicer. If you later add additional slicers they will need to be connected in this same manner
This will allow the various PivotTables and slices to work in tandem
Result: Now the slicers change for all pivot tables at the same time

10. Customize your Slicers and Dashboard Step 51
Create a slicer style to create a uniform appearance
Hold the Shift key and click on the desired slicers you wish to customize
Click the Options tab and then the arrow in the Slicer Styles section
Select a style to apply selectively or to all
You can additionally apply separate styles to each slicer
Click here
Optionally you can create a new, custom slicer style
Click on the arrow in the Slicer Styles section
Select New Slicer Style
Select the Slicer Element you wish to customize
Format the Font, Border and Fill color for each element if desired
Important: To apply your custom style you will need to select the slicers and click on the arrow in the Slicer Styles section and select Custom in the top section 2
Slicer caption names 3
Slicer columns
Remove/rename the display name Right click on slicer > Slicer settings Check/uncheck Display header and change the caption if desired
Change the number of slicer columns to accommodate more/less choices Slicer Tools > Options> Buttons > Columns

11. Tips on Using the Dashboard, PivotTable and Slicers1
Select elements in your slicer 4
Excel Suggested PivotTables
Click individual elements
Drag the mouse button to select tangent elements
Ctrl-click on multiple elements in the list
Click on the PivotTable
Select Recommended PivotTables on the Analyze tab
Deselect elements in your slicer
Click here 2
Ctrl-click on the individual elements you wish to eliminate from your filter
Click on the red X in the upper corner of the slicer to deselect all elements in the slicer
Updating your Dashboard 5
Updating your table with new data does not automatically update your dashboard!
Right-click on the PivotTable
Select Refresh. To update all PivotTables in the workbook click the Refresh button arrow and then click Refresh All
You can also select any cell in the PivotTable and use the keyboard shortcut ALT + F5 3
Alphabetize results
Right-click on the slicer
Select Slicer-settings
Select Ascending (A to Z)